Wet mail dampens the day
miwlvrn
Posts: 4,264 ✭✭✭✭✭
Super disappointing to receive a $700 package of vintage auto'd items shipped in from Germany after several weeks, only to arrive soaking wet. Thoroughly wet, not like a simple drink spill or sink splash; this was as if somewhere along the line, USPS dropped it into a lake. The part I haven't figured out is that it was delivered to me yesterday on a hot sunny day and none of my other mail was wet. It was delivered by my carrier, not a situation where a neighbor got it by accident and left it out under sprinklers or something. I don't know how it could have been so wet while going through the handling and sorting system of USPS. Though I wish the seller/shipper had used better plastic protection within the packaging, I don't think it is fair to blame him for not anticipating such a large amount of water. (I am assuming liquid was water since there is no staining or discoloration).
Sadly, all the items were soggy enough to be stuck together in one limp piled brick. I was able to peel them apart for the most part and set them out to dry out. This means that now the salvageable ones will have to get subbed for Auth instead of grading. I am confident the autos are legit. The autos still present well on the fronts without smudging/smearing/running. However, since they were all stuck in a wet stack, each one transferred what ends up looking like a reverse image of the auto onto the card back in the one on top. For example, if the cards are numbered 1 on the top of the stack, 2 for the second one down, and so on, then card 1 has the correct player auto on front, but the back side of card 1 also shows a fainter reverse/mirror image of the auto from the front of card 2, due to the ink bleeding while wet and stacked. This reverse image bleed transfer pattern continues through the entire stack. None of the fronts have incorrect bled auto images; only the back sides of each were affected in this way. I am pretty sure these items would still qualify for red flip DNA grading of Auth-Card/Auth-Auto even with this having happened, which I can concede to, but it would add up to a lot of grading expense if there were to be a concern that I couldn't get Auth/Auth. Any thoughts on that?
Comments
Well it isn't your fault you have soggy cards.... I wouldn't pay $700 for soggy cards. If it was me, and this was eBay, I'd do a damaged in shipping case to at least get a partial refund. The seller is still responsible for "acts of god", not the buyer. I understand it wasn't the intentional fault of the seller, but why should you be the one to get short-changed?
Is it possibly insured? I wouldn't send something worth $700 without some kind of insurance. I'm pretty sure you can ship internationally from Germany with insurance. If it did have insurance keep the wet box in case they need it for a claim.
This is a crappy situation. What kind of stuff did you get? Sounds like it was not a total loss at least.
My worst USPS mishap was a package of sgined stuff from a seller I had bought from an several occasions. this one was torn open and although most made it, a couple cards must have "fell out". A couple postcards were damaged too. I was so mad and the PO really didn't do anything about it. I don't recall, but I don't think insurance was involved, which is why they said "not our problem". I'm still peeved to this day. I don't recall everything that was lost, but the kick to the sack was a 1956 Topps Phil Rizzuto auto'd. I was never able to replace it at the price I originally paid and have since missed the boat on replacing it at all.
Several 1950's through 1970's HOF auto'd soccer items
Have you talked to anyone with your local post office? That would have been my first call.
Tried, but didn't really get anywhere with it.